Garment steam and air press



March 20, 1928.

J. (E. LEDBETTER GARMENT STEAM AND AIR PRESS Filed Oct.

v A I Y. A w V A W A INVENTOR .Patenterl Mar. 20, W26.

rare stars JAMES C. LEDBE'ITER, BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGN- MENTS, TO THE PROSPERITY (.iOILtIZPANY,- INC., 011 SYRACUSE, NEW YORK, A. COR- ronarlon on NEW YORK.

GARMENT STEAM AND AIR PRESS.

Application 'filed October 30, 1924. Serial No. 748,724.

This invention relates to garment presses and more particularly to pressing machines having a pressing member or jaw improved in respect to combination steam spraying a and air drying facilities.

A main object of the invention is to produce improvements over the United States \Veinberger Patent 1,193,093 and United States Andree Patent 1,369,769. The press disclosed in the Weinberger patent, while having air drying means, is not provided with steam spraying facilities in the same pressing member with the air drying means; and an object is to improve over that construction and provide both steam spraying and airing means in one and the same chamber. The Andre machine as disclosed in his patent is provided with a combination steam spray and airing jaw or pressing member,

2o but the airing and steam spraying chamber are one and the same chamber which requires that the air be circulated through the same chamber which circulates the steam, and so it follows that the intensive circulation of 26 cool air through the steam spraying chamber causes the said steam chamber to be cooled off thereby producing a loss in efliciency by reason of the fact that an excessive amount of steam is required to operate the Andree machine, and so it follows that an object of my invention is to produce a pressing member or jaw structure having separated air and steam spraying chambers though providing said chambers in one and the same pressing member.

Furthermore an object'is to improve over the Andree patent in respect to the means for heating the air before it passes throu h the garment, for while Andre explains t at an advantage in his machine rests in the fact that the air is heated before being blown up through the buck and through the garment, it is found that in reality this condition does not follow in actual practice because the heat at radiating surface along which the air travels is very small; but I so design and construct my improved pressing jaw that extremely hot air is ejected from the foraminous press plate through the garment to dry same.

The accompanying drawing illustrates one form of the invention; and it is to be understood that changes may be made without departing from the principle of the invention.

The view illustrates a fragmentary side elevation of a pressing machine with the illustrated in cross section to clearly show the detailed construction of the improvements.

Referring further to the drawings, there is shown the usual press framelO on which a press lever 11 is pivoted at 12 and any suitable mechanism is provided forswinging the press lever 11 up and down to close the head 13 upon the buck 14. The head and buck 13 and 14 are steam heated and either one or both of the pressing members may be constructed in accordance with the principle of this invention, but the lower press member or jaw, usually known. as the buck, is herein chosen to illustrate this invention.

The buck 14 comprises a single piece casting or it may be welded up of steel plate material and has the necessary partitions by which the buck is divided off into the respective heat and spray chambers. A partition wall 15 provides a closed heating chamber 16 made with pipe connecting ducts 17 by which feed and return steam pipes 18 lead .to and from the buckheating chamber 16 in order that a supply of live hot steam be con-' tinually. circulated through the buck heating chamber-16.

'A partition 20 forms a spray chamber 21 for steam or air spraying purposes, as the case may be, and this chamber 21 may be comparatively shallow or of any shape and proportions as ,desired. The wall 20 may be made with integral upstanding bosses 22 perforated as at 23. The said perforated bosses 22 are uniformly distributed over the upper surface of the wall 20 and out through which steam or air is ejected onto the garment. In the present instance the spray chamber 21 is intended for the circulation of air therethrough because this chamber is adjacent the large steam heating chamber 16 the upper wall 15 of which heats the air chamber 21 to such high temperature that the air passing upwardly through the chamber 21 becomes highly heated.

The plurality of perforated bosses 22 support a foraminous press plate 25 slightly spaced from the wall. 20 thereby producing another foraminous shallow chamber 26 entirely separated from the first named air spray foraminous chamber 21. The plate 25 forming the upper pressing surface of the buck is provided'with a separate set of perforations 27 which lead directly to the steam spray chamber 26. This press plate is likewise perforated at 28, and the many perforations 28 register with the perforations 23 in the bosses. It is now apparent how the perforations 28 lead to the air'spray chamber 21 and the perforations 27 lead to the steam spray chamber 26, and each chamberis independent of the other though lead ing through the same foraminous plate. The bosses 22 constitute ducts which lead through the steamspray chamber 26 to the air spray chamber 21 and. connect the latter. with the press plate 25.

An air pipe connecting duct 30 leads through the steam heating chamber 16 and enables an air pipe 31 to connectdirectly with the air spray chamber 21. --'lhe pipe 31 is intended'to be connected with a suction sprays upwardly through the perforationsor blowing fart Preferably the pipe 31 is connected with a pressure blower in order that air under pressure be delivered intothe" air spraying chamber 21 where theair comes in contact with .-the hot walls of the buck causing the air to be highly heated as it A pipe duct 33 opens into the steam spray chamber 26 and leads through the other two chambers 21 and 16 thereby enabling a steam pipe 34 to be directly connected to the steam spray chamber 26. The pipe 34 connects with the boiler or more conveniently connects with the steam feeding pipe 18.

A steam spra valve 35 is included! in the pipe line 34 an a release rod or mechanism 36 is so arranged that an operator working through the the press may at will open the valve 35 to discharge live steam from the supply pipe 18 up into the steam spray chamber 26. In the operation of an improved pressing ma.- chine of this character, the air spray chamber 21 and steam spray chamber 26 are separated. It follows, therefore, that no steam ispermitted to pass air chamber, and conversely, no air is permitted to pass through the steam chamber.

I By segregating the steam chambers into .two separated compartments as disclosed in this invention, steam spray chamber are never cooled off by air rushing therethrough sincethe air is restricted to circulation through another chamber. It follows ,that a pressing machine of this type a is more efficient, and causes the ejection of steam and air or other spray fluid in more pure and unadulterated state onto the garment for the treatment an conditioning thereof.

What I claim is 1. A garment pressing machine compris it is significant that the internal Walls of the provided in the plate leadin spray chamber also being provided with two separated shat low chambers, an air pipe connected to one of theshallow chambers, and a steam pipe.

connected to the other shallow chamber,

both of said shallow chambers being perforated through thepressing surface and out through which steam and air flows, and said perforations connecting with the respective shallow chambers so that the steam and air alwavs flow through separated respective perforations.

2. An improved garment press compris I ing in combination, pressing ]aWS and means 5 to open and close the press on the work, one "aw being providedwith three chambers,'one of'which is a sealed chamber for heating purposes, another chamber for steam spraying purposes, ing the garment, each of the last two cha m' bers named being provided with an upper and-a third chamber for airperforated press'plate through which air and steam is discharged,

the workingsurface of the member provid-.-

partition walls in-- jcluded in the jaw by which the aforesaid v ing another spray chamber, a steam pipe' connecting wlth one spray chamber, an air ipe connecting with the other spray chamer, and steam heating pipes connected with the said heating chamber.

4. A steam heated pressing'member for use in connection with garment presses, comprising a hollow castmg having a closed heating chamber made with pipe ducts to which is attached steam feed and steam return pipes, a spray chamber formed a'djatent the heating chamber, a plurality ofperforated bosses cast integral with and rising above the spray chamber, a plate disposed over the perforated bosses thereby forming a second spray chamber, said plate havin perforations registering with the aforesai perforated bosses leading to the first named spray chamber, another set-of perforations to the second.

thefirst named perforations, a pipe duct opening into the first named spray chamber and extending through the heating and being 1ndependent of chamber and first spray chamber, and an-, other pipe duct connecting with the other spray chamber. J

5. An improved garment press jaw 'heated by stea'mand being provided with-steam and air spray means, a press plate on said 'j aw having two independent sets of perforations formed in'its working face,"said jaw bein provided-with aheating chamber, said jaw facing provided with an airing chamber adapted'to discharge air through one set of the aforesaid perforations, and a steam spraying chamber adapted to discharge steam through the other set of perforations,

and said steam spraying chamber being separated from said airing chamber. to prevent the air from cooling the steam spray chamber.

6. A pressing machine jaw comprising, a pressing member havin aperforatcd working face on which is p aced the work, saidmember provided with three shallow chambers of substantially the same area, two parallel partitions one above the other inside the member by which is formed the three chambers, some of the aforesaid perforations opening directly into one chamber, meani connecting the other perforations to another chamber, and means for supplying fluid to each chamber.

7. A press jaw provided with a heating chamber and means to supply heat thereto, and provided with separate air and steam spray chambers and means to supplyaspray medium thereto, a perforated press late disposed over both of the spray cham ers,

chamber, said pressing member also being provided with two separate means .for receiving air and steam spray fluids, a pipe connected to one of the means, and a pipe connected to the other-means, and both of said means being perforated throu h the pressing surface and out through ,whlch the different kinds of spray media flow.

9. An improved garment press jaw heated by steam and having steam and air spray means, a pressing surface on said jaw and provided with independent sets of spray perforations, said jaw being provided with a heating chamber, said jaw being further provided with an airing chamber and means to move air through one set of the aforesaid perforations, and a steam spraying chamber opening to the other set of perforations and adapted to spray steam therethrough.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

JAMES C. LEDBETTER. 

